How to get fuller, softer, smoother lips over 50

Our experts solve your midlife lipstick dilemmas

In this regular new series, Ageless Beauty, The Telegraph’s beauty experts Annabel Jones and Lisa Armstrong tackle the beauty conundrums they’ve been searching for answers to and share their favourite tips and tricks. This week, they discuss what to do about ageing lips. Ask them your questions below…
When I was growing up, full lips weren’t remotely fashionable. I was constantly called “rubber lips”. Then big pouts became the rage. Lesson learned: never do anything drastic to your face based on transient ideas about what looks good. 
Besides, you can do so much with make-up. In winter, red lipstick delivers an instant glow up, whatever your age, whether you have a full mouth or not. For narrow lips, softer, translucent formulations are most flattering. Skip lip liner – it’s harsh and an outline outside your natural lips doesn’t fool anyone. 
The hardest part is finding the right shade. I used to love browny reds and plums but boy do they bring out dark circles and pigmentation – instant Morticia. It’s worth going to an actual shop with a friend initially. 
I have yellow undertones to my skin and one of my current favourites is RMS Beauty’s Ruby Moon (£33, Naturisimo). It’s a sunny, coral-red serum-come-lipstick that promises eight hour hydration. Texture and longevity wise, it’s the best organic lippie I’ve ever met. It comes in a narrow tube so you can achieve precise application without using a brush. 
Code8’s reds are also fabulous and they offer customised colours in store. I’m mad for Pop Art (£29, Code8). It’s a dramatic mid-red with a faultless texture, halfway between matte and satin, pigment-rich and easy to apply. I’ve got a thing against shiny reds, they look vulgar. 
I’m not one for spending ages, but it’s worth investing five minutes on red lipstick because it does so much heavy lifting and saves time elsewhere. You do need an even complexion – red lipstick highlights redness around the nose. Try a tinted serum to add radiance, then I mix some concealer with moisturiser for extra cover round my nose and under my eyes. 
Your eye make-up can be as basic as a few coats of a great non-drying mascara. Victoria Beckham’s Vast Lash Mascara, (£32, Victoria Beckham Beauty) is outstanding. If I’m working from home and have a Zoom, red lipstick and big glasses – job done.
A few caveats. These days my lipstick bleeds if I don’t press a tissue firmly round the edges of my mouth to seal the colour. 
Keeping lips in good condition helps them look plumper. E45 has a new balm (£8.99, Superdrug) that’s a bit like Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour cream – but cheaper.
Can’t leave without addressing the stray hairs sprouting near my mouth. Enter Votary’s teeny Magic Razor Wands (£20 for three, Cult Beauty) – specially for delicate skin. So un-glam. But that’s why we have great lipsticks. 
RMS Beauty Legendary Serum Lipstick in  Ruby Moon, £33, Naturisimo; E45 Lips & Dry Skin Balm, £8.99, Superdrug; Matte Velour Lipstick in Pop Art, £29, Code 8; Votary Magic Razor Wands, £20 for 3, Cult Beauty
You might assume my pillowy lips exclude me from this conversation, but size doesn’t discriminate against the other curious things that happen with age. Take dryness which, for me, settles in patches, preventing lipstick from adhering in a uniform manner. And even with a pair of bee-stung lips, the fullness dissipates with time – sort of like a sad balloon two days in. But let’s not wallow, there is work that can be done to mitigate such issues. 
I’m not usually an advocate, but dermal filler is one option if your lips are thin enough to bother you. Though should you proceed, anything in a syringe is best left in the hands of a real doctor with good taste and ethics to avoid duck-pout disasters. 
If you’re happy with the shape of your lips but disillusioned with their texture then there are less obvious ways to restore juiciness. I’m booked in to try platelet rich plasma (PRP) whereby blood is drawn and extracted for growth factors which are then injected into your lips to naturally regenerate collagen. Less queasy is laser – a 10-minute fix (caveat: six sessions are recommended) for lips that have “lost their lustre” according to laser wiz Dr Debbie Thomas.
Like Lisa, my lipstick bleeds mainly in the dip of my Cupid’s bow. To combat this I use a lip pencil and leave out the corners for an air of detached cool. As for colour, red feels too risque on me – like I’m wearing a push up bra – so I stick with pink in soft tones like rose or, when my skin is tanned, peach. 
I’m convinced that creamy, non-shimmery finishes look most chic at This Age. Chanel Rouge Coco Flash in Immediat or Boy (£31.50, Boots.com) is fresh and professional looking, though lately I’ve been enjoying what young people refer to as “bloss”, a hybrid of gloss and balm. A good one like Merit’s Tinted Lip Oil in Jete (£26, meritbeauty.com), provides skincare benefits to counteract the dryness. 
And yet most days I outline my mouth with a lip-matching pencil then smudge the edges with my finger or a brush and slick on Vaseline. Rose tinted if I’m feeling fancy. Speaking of, I’ve found joy in Mecca Cosmetica’s Lip De-Luscious SPF20 (£20, Mecca Cosmetica) that protects, tints and nourishes lips in one. Yes. Lips get sun-damaged too.  
Mecca Cosmetica Lip De-Luscious SPF20, £20, Mecca Cosmetica; Tinted Lip Gelee, £26 in Jete, Merit; Chanel Rouge Coco Flash in Immediat or Boy, £31.50, Boots; No 7 Lip Liner in Starry Nights, £7.99, Boots